1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to medical procedures and relates more specifically to a sterilization procedure that may be performed in a pre-operative environment using a unique garment or dressing.
2. Background Art
Healthcare professionals recognize the importance of preparing patients for medical procedures by disinfecting the target area where the procedure is to be performed with a topical aseptic preparation, such as chlorhexidine gluconate or rubbing alcohol. During surgery, in order to perform certain procedures, healthcare professionals are frequently required to penetrate or open up one or more areas of a patient's body, for example, the skin of the chest area. If the target area of the patient's body has not been properly sanitized, breaking through the surface layer of the patient's body may increase the risk that the patient will become infected. For example, if healthcare professionals opened up a patient's chest area for open heart surgery but neglected to aseptically prepare the chest area prior to making incisions, then any bacteria, viruses, or other organisms that were originally located on or near the surface of the skin and in proximity to the incision or entry point may migrate to and enter the open wound, thereby infecting the patient.
Typically, a surgical patient is prepared for surgery by administering a 3 to 10 minute scrubbing of the target surgical area with a soap solution, followed by painting the target area with a water-soluble antiseptic solution in the operating room or surgical theater. This pre-surgical preparation of the target area has improved with the use of antiseptics that require only surficial contact with the skin. Delivery devices have also been developed to apply these antiseptic solutions by sponging, brushing, spraying, and/or painting the target area once the patient arrives in the operating room. The current methods of sterilization, however, do not address, among other things, the increased risk of transferring infectious disease between patients, healthcare professionals and others that may occur prior to the surgical preparation of the target area in the operating room.
The current pre-surgical disinfectant methods all present certain drawbacks, which may be broadly categorized into four specific areas of concern: increasing the time that the patient spends in the operating room; increasing the length of time that patient is under anesthesia; increasing the risk of injury to operating room professionals while moving and/or holding the patient in order to sterilize the target area; and increasing the risk of transferring an infection to or from the patient during the pre-operative period.
Using the current methods for preparing patients for surgery, precious time that could be spent performing the operation may be spent on disinfecting the surgical surface area of the patient's body, which is usually an area of skin. Additionally, even if the sterilization of the target area is accomplished in a pre-operative environment, the target area of the patient's body may be exposed to the air or other contaminants and can become unsterile. If the patient's clothing or the target area has become unsterile during the course of transportation, there is a risk that the target area of the patient's body could be subject to infection once the procedure begins.
Another risk posed by current methods is they generally increase the time that a patient is under anesthesia, which is less than ideal since extended exposure to anesthesia may pose some risk for the patient. Further, the common practice of performing the surgical preparation in the operating room using current methods typically requires operating room personnel to lift, hold, and/or move patients since the patient has usually been anesthetized and can no longer control the movement of their body. This may cause physical stress on the personnel performing the pre-operative sterilization procedure and may require additional time from surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses, and technicians. Accordingly, without improvements in the current process for preparing a patient for surgery, the costs and risks associated with disinfecting the target area of the patient's body associated with pre-operative sterilization will continue to be measurably higher than desired.